Prayer and Spirituality
This part of the course looks at prayer and spirituality and the relationship between the two.
8. Prayer techniques
How did you get on? Did you have any of these on your list?
- prayer walks - this is as simple as it sounds – praying as you walk. When we prayer walk we are stepping into our authority as God’s children to bless people and places in Jesus’ name as we walk.
- silent prayer - is practiced by many cultures, by different faiths. Words are not always easy to find. “The silence is not a vacuum, it is often filled with quiet hope or a deep desire to still the heart of fear"
- soaking -is about experiencing intimacy with God, resting for a period of time in the presence of God with an open, cleared mind often with simple music playing quietly in the background.
- prayer circles – joining hands in a circle to pray together has been practiced for centuries. Participants may follow a leader or each pray as they are so moved. There are also circle prayers as in the Celtic tradition where an individual turns in prayer to north, south, east, and west surrounding themselves in prayer.
- contemplative prayer - sometimes described as a “gaze of faith, a silent love”. This is about not saying prayers but listening for God.
- dance - incorporates music and movement as a form of worship.
There are many different ways of praying, alone and with others, and plenty of resources to help you find new ways. For example, did you notice the 'praying with your hand' technique on the web page that offered the definition of prayer - find it again here?
You may also like to look at the final page of this section for more resources.